With the Reds and Cardinals scoreless in the bottom of the seventh Tuesday night at Great American Ball Park, Billy Hamilton got the order he was waiting for. One day after joining the Reds as a part of September callups, Hamilton was told to take over as a pinch-runner after Ryan Ludwick opened the inning with a single, and the message from manager Dusty Baker was simple.
“I need you to get to second base,” Baker told Hamilton.
So in his Major League debut, that’s what Hamilton did, stealing second after three consecutive pickoff attempts. Three pitches later, on Todd Frazier’s double down the left-field line, Hamilton scored the decisive run in a 1-0 win over the Cardinals.
“At first base, I haven’t been that nervous in a long time in my life,” Hamilton said with a smile. “When I got on first base, I had chills running down, but I knew I couldn’t be afraid. This was a big situation, so I knew I had to get to second base because it was my job, and it happened for me.”
And it couldn’t have happened at a better a time.
With the win, combined with a series-opening victory Monday, the Reds have moved to within 1 1/2 games of the second-place Cardinals in the National League Central and remained 3 1/2 back of the first-place Pirates, who also won Tuesday. Cincinnati and St. Louis hold the two Wild Card spots.
Hamilton entered the game well aware of its importance, and after Homer Bailey tossed seven scoreless innings, Hamilton knew exactly what he needed to do. So did the roughly 20,000 Reds fans who rose to their feet when he took first base, and so did the Cardinals.
“I didn’t send him out there to paint,” Baker joked. “There was no secret.”
Hamilton’s reputation precedes him after he set a professional record with 155 stolen bases in 2012. That speed is what made Baker think he could be an asset in the pennant race, and Hamilton’s new teammates were happy to have him around.
“It’s a pretty exciting game,” said Frazier, who unsuccessfully tried laying down two bunts before his RBI double. “Watching Billy run — I can watch that every day.”
Hamilton only had a chance to deliver the game-winning run, though, because of the effort from Bailey. After shutting out the Cardinals for 7 1/3 innings Wednesday, Bailey was up to the task again and made it 14 1/3 straight scoreless innings against St. Louis. The 27-year-old right-hander allowed just two hits and one walk while striking out eight.
Tuesday’s outing got off to a rocky start for Bailey, who gave up a base hit and a walk to the first two batters before escaping the first on a double play. He then hit Jon Jay with a pitch in the second and gave up a second single to Matt Carpenter in the third.
None of the Cardinals’ early efforts materialized into runs, though, and Bailey made sure that was the case for as long as he was on the mound. Following Carpenter’s single, Bailey retired his final 14 batters. He needed just 10 pitches in the fourth and another 13 in the fifth, when he struck out the side, before breezing through the sixth and seventh frames.
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